Shortlists for the 2017 British Composer Awards announced

The shortlists for the 2017 British Composer Awards (BCA) have been announced. This year's line-up features thirty composers and 33 works in 11 categories, from Solo to Stage Work, Wind Band to Contemporary Jazz.

Just four years after the annual competition caused a stir when all its winners were men, women make up 42 per cent of the shortlist. Half of the nominees are under the age of 40, and half of the shortlisted composers have been nominated for the first time.

This is the second year that the shortlists have been judged anonymously – with the exception of the Sonic Art, Community or Educational Project and Stage Works categories – and that composers, rather than publishers, have been able to submit their own pieces. It's also been the BCA's most popular year, with entries up 18.5 per cent.

Composers Sally Beamish, Emily Peasgood and Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian have all been nominated twice. For the first time in the competition's 14-year history, the Orchestral category features an all-female shortlist, with pieces by Helen Grime, Tansy Davies and Emily Howard.

Followers of the Awards may also notice that a familiar name is absent from the shortlists. Sir Harrison Birtwistle is the BCA's most-awarded composer, with seven wins to date as well as 14 nominations, but doesn't appear this year. However, his late contemporary Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has been honoured posthumously for his community opera The Hogboon, written in the last year of his life.

'The works nominated here speak to politics, ecology, art and history and somehow manage to distil the disorder about is into form,' says Crispin Hunt, chairman of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. 'It's inspiring to note a significant uplift in submissions this year, especially to see so many first-time nominees and young composers shortlisted – further testimony to the pioneering musical spirit of today.'

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 6 December 2017.

The shortlist in full:

Amateur or Young PerformersThe Feast That Went Off With A Bang by Ed Hughes The Hogboon by Sir Peter Maxwell DaviesWho We Are by Kerry Andrew

Chamber EnsembleKhadambi’s House by Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian Skin by Rebecca SaundersThe wreck of former boundaries by Aaron Cassidy

ChoralAffix Stamp Here by Leo Chadburn Proclamation of the Republic by Andrew Hamilton The Temptations of Christ by Barnaby Martin

Community or Educational ProjectAnything but Bland by Brian Irvine BIRDS and other Stories by Emily PeasgoodCrossing Over by Emily Peasgood

Contemporary Jazz CompositionLoop Concerto for jazz trio & large ensemble by Benjamin OliverMuted Lines by Cevanne Horrocks-HopayianYou Are My World by Robert Mitchell